In less than three hours, a blue Toyota Vitz stolen from Vacoas was found at the Shell service station on route des Pamplemousses, Sainte-Croix. The perpetrator, Riyaad Mohammed Goolam Hossen, 36, of rue Lislet Geoffroy, Curepipe, was arrested by members of the Field Intelligence Office (FIO) of the Metropolitan Police’s Northern Division. He was subsequently handed over to the Curepipe Criminal Investigation Division (CID).
Riyaad Goolam Hossen committed the theft of this Toyota Vitz in a most audacious manner. The owner, a 37-year-old Vacoassian, had parked his vehicle to enter his pharmacy located almost opposite the London supermarket. It was around 10.05 a.m. on Monday June 13 when he got out of his car on rue Saint Paul, Vacoas. He left the engine running. At some point, an individual wearing a black jacket got into his car to take control before driving off in the direction of La Caverne. The value of his car is estimated at Rs 250,000.
The pharmacist had to inform the police immediately. Elements of the Vacoas CID and the FIO were also alerted. In time, a radio message was sent to all units on patrol, as well as to all police stations in the country by the Police Main Command Centre.
The suspect was apprehended at the wheel of the car, whose license plate numbers he had exchanged, on Route des Pamplemousses, Sainte-Croix, by police officers from the Port-Louis/Nord FIO. He was subsequently handed over to the Vacoas CID. Riyaad Goolam Hossen was taken to Vacoas where he was subjected to close questioning by CID officers. A wallet containing the sum of Rs 225, two identity cards and a driving license belonging to the owner of the car. With the stolen car, he had gone to this suburb of the capital to obtain doses of drugs.
The Curepipien was quick to confess to the theft. He was subsequently placed in a cell at the Vacoas detention center. On Wednesday morning, June 14, he was brought before the Curepipe court on a provisional charge of car theft. This suspect had already been arrested in January of this year for another case of car theft. He was on parole.
